Apple's AirPod Headphones Are an Awful Design

You've probably heard by now, but the new iPhone 7 does not have a headphone jack. This is going to be a pain for all kinds of reasons, but if you pick up a pair of Bluetooth headphones you should do just fine. And hey, what do you know, Apple announced a pair of those! The new "AirPods" are completely wireless!

Don't buy them. You'll regret it.

For the past several years, Bluetooth headphones have been called "wireless," but there is only one specific wire they've eliminated: the wire that goes from the headphones to the phone. This is a good wire to eliminate! It gets caught on doorknobs and sometimes shorts out due to bending around the plug. Another wire, however, has been permitted to stay. Over-the-head Bluetooth headphones still have an obvious band (with a wire inside) connecting the two speakers, and more stripped-down Bluetooth earbud designs usually have a wire running between the two buds, one you can just throw behind your neck.

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Apple's AirPods are buying into a new trend that is already emerging. Even before AirPods, Motorola and Samsung released Bluetooth buds that are completely wireless. These small earplug-like devices are two unconnected devices—no wire in between. Apple's AirPods are the just the latest—and most high-profile—version.

It seems like a natural step forward, but it's actually a big step back.

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If this seems like a natural step forward, don't be fooled; it's actually a big step back. The wire that connects your earbuds together isn't some annoyance that needs to be eliminated. It is actually a great feature with a few nice benefits. This wire prevents you from misplacing one tiny bud by ensuring the two are connected. These wire-paired buds are easy to fish out of your bag or pocket, for instance.

But most importantly, the wire also gives you an easy way to hang the buds around your neck when you're not using them so you don't have to set them down in the first place. With completely wireless buds, you'll not only have to deal with buds that are easy to lose, but you'll have to deal with them every time you take them out of your ears. Want to take off your headphones and talk to someone for a few minutes? I hope you have fun holding a stray AirPod in your hand, or fishing a loose one out of your pocket a minute later, or have the carrying case on you literally at all times.

these headphones are committing a grievous sin of design; they gesture at ease and simplicity while making life harder and more complicated.

That's not even the worst of it. Eliminating this last wire not only removes a few truly handy features, but it also comes with no real upside. Yeah, these headphones are smaller, but to what end? Being easier to lose? So they will be easier for your dog or child to swallow? So they can fit down a sewer grate or under the fridge? Yeah, they're more discreet, but why? So that more people can try to talk to you without realizing that you have something in your ears already? That you don't want to talk? The obviousness of a pair of headphones is a feature, not a bug!

The one minor upside of AirPods is a carrying case that will charge your buds on the go. Dead Bluetooth headphones are worse than useless—they're maddening. This may be slightly better than carrying a backup charger and a cable. Enough to counter all the looming downsides? No way. And these are just the downsides of this form factor in general, Apple AirPods in particular have other issues on top—they cost $160 and their full suite of features only work with certain Apple devices.

Apple—and any other company making buds like these—will spin these type of earbuds as the natural evolution of technology. Perhaps even a "magical" experience, as Apple CEO Tim Cook put it on stage today. What comes after fewer wires? No wires! It's just like that movie Her!

In fact, these headphones are committing a grievous sin of design; they gesture at ease and simplicity while making life harder and more complicated. What might seem like an advancement is actually needless flash and glitz. Don't let yourself be blinded by it.